Saturday, May 7, 2016

1864 Amherst Four Patch

Four Patch quilt top dated 1864 in ink

"Three cheers for the Red white & blue"

I had not noticed this four-patch in the collection of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian. The other day I came across it and was pleased to see how well it's been photographed.

1864 Civil War Album Quilt Top

60" x 90"

National Museum of American History,

Kenneth E. Behring Center

From the web page:

Several squares are dated “1864” and some state a place, “Amherst.” Most squares contain religious messages, but some secular inscriptions are evident: “Three cheers for the Red, white & blue 1864” and “God save Gen. Grant and his brave men.”

The blocks are four patches of plain white and print.

The sentiments are inked but there don't seem to be any signatures.

One can guess that this was meant to be a soldier's quilt for a hospital.

Thanks for sharing that. It's so satisfying to see that the simplest pattern can be so effective. The quilt is as beautiful as when it was made, and so much history. Too bad not one single Amherst had the state! Of course, they probably were not thinking of quilt historians!

The quotes are similar to the 1864 Flag Quilt made in Belfast, Maine. (You can find a photo on the Belfast Historical Society's website). Amherst, Maine is a very rural town about 40 miles NE of Belfast. The population today is under 250 but was nearly double that in 1864 and there were over 40 Union soldiers listed. Oh boy, another mystery!

Note: Several of the blocks are inscribed "Amherst, Mass" and there are several dates for "June 1864" as well. A recent discovery found mention of "Album Bed-quilts" under "Latest War News" in the July 1,1864 edition of the Hampshire Franklin Express (an Amherst, Mass. paper). The item noted that the Ladies Soldiers' Aid Society was making hospital quilts very similar to the 1864 Civil War Album Quilt Top. VE